The Nikon D4 is a new flagship D-SLR for photographers who are looking for the ultimate digital SLR camera. This professional FX-format camera brings new levels of image quality, speed and precision to both still photography and video. The Nikon D4 has a 16.2-megapixel FX-format sensor, EXPEED3 image processing engine, 11 fps burst shooting, ISO 50-204,800 and Full HD (1080p) movies. The new WT-5 Wireless Transmitter (£649) features HTTP and FTP connection modes. The Nikon D4 will cost £4,799.99 / €5,658 and be available from 16th February.

Nikon UK Press Release

The Nikon D4 – Built to push limits

RRP: £4,799.99 / €5,658
Sales start date: 16th February 2012 (tbc)

London, UK, 6th January 2012: Nikon today announces the launch of the D4, its new flagship D-SLR for photographers who are looking for the ultimate digital SLR camera to revolutionize photography.

Designed to push the limits and realize every shooting opportunity, this new professional FX-format camera brings new levels of image quality, speed and precision to both still photography and video.

“The introduction of the Nikon D4 sets a new benchmark for photography,” says Kentaro Kusakari, Product Planning Manager, Nikon UK. “We’re proud to be launching a new flagship model that exceeds the capabilities of its world renowned predecessor, the Nikon D3. This new camera has been designed for class leading professionals looking to push the limits of photography and improve their workflow. We’re confident that the Nikon D4 will help take them to the next level.”

Uncompromised Image quality—Exceptional speed
Engineered to deliver remarkable image integrity in the most diverse lighting conditions, the D4 offers blisteringly fast fps performance and sets a new benchmark in low-noise performance. The 16.2 megapixel FX-format (full-frame) CMOS sensor with fast channel readout delivers up to 11 fps—faster than any other Nikon DSLR camera.

Images of remarkable quality with low noise and wide dynamic range can be realized even at high ISO sensitivities thanks to the optimized noise reduction design and 14-bit A/D signal processing built into the sensor. The phenomenal ISO range sets a new benchmark of ISO12800 and extends the range one EV further to make ISO 100 a standard. For more challenging conditions, equivalent ISO 50 and ISO 204,800 sensitivities make the D4 the camera of choice for photographers who typically face extreme lighting challenges.

Super-charged EXPEED3 image processing engine
Thanks to Nikon’s next-generation EXPEED 3 image-processing engine, the D4 makes light work of multiple data-rich tasks without sacrificing the speed and quality that pros are accustomed to. High-speed 16-bit image processing follows the 14-bit A/D conversion to deliver submission-ready JPEGs straight out of the camera. Performance is never compromised, even when undertaking the most data-intensive tasks. Images boast faithful, well-saturated colour and natural depth. Even when shooting in dim lighting at high ISO sensitivities, the camera’s intelligent, performance-proven noise reduction lowers noise without degrading image sharpness.

Broadcast quality video
For professionals whose workflow demands video, the D4 offers all the flexibility required for a wide variety of movie applications. It’s large format movie shooting at its best, with a comprehensive variety of frame rates.

Frame rates: Full HD (1080p) movies can be recorded in 30p, 25p and 24p, with 60p, 50p, 30p and 25p options at 720p. Movie clips can be close to 30 minutes long (approx. 29.59 min).

Multi-area mode: Full HD (1080p) recording is possible in both FX and DX based formats as well as in native Full HD (1920x1080) crop.

High-fidelity audio control: responding to feedback from the industry, the D4 introduces new possibilities for D-SLR audio recording that enable your movies to sound as good as they look. Aside from the external stereo microphone input, an audio out for external headphones lets you fine tune audio in isolation.

Uncompressed HDMI output: for those who need the purest video output for professional quality editing, the D4 offers the possibility to output the uncompressed live view to external recorders and monitors. The first time this has been possible in an SLR camera, data is output at 1080i (Full HD) at the designated image size and frame rate. Data output can be scaled down if necessary and is clean of the information overlay that can be simultaneously displayed on the camera’s TFT monitor.

Convenient custom controls: live view operation is enhanced thanks to convenient custom controls. Instead of rotating the command dial, power aperture enables smoother aperture control via assigned buttons on the front of the camera. Index marking enables important frames to be tagged in the timeline during movie recording, which makes for easy location during editing.

New levels of speed and accuracy
When it comes to nailing decisive moments, the D4’s enhanced auto operation gives photographers a clear advantage.

3D-subject tracking is particularly improved when shooting and tracking smaller subjects. Human faces are detected with startling exactness even when working in real time through the optical viewfinder. This level of detailed scene analysis is also utilised to support more accurate autofocus and auto exposure, even under the most challenging lighting conditions.

The autofocus sensor module and algorithms significantly improve low light acquisition sensitivity capabilities down to -2 EV (ISO 100, 20°C/68°F). All 51 focus type sensors are fully responsive with any AF NIKKOR lens f/5.6 and—for the first time—this superb performance does not end at f/5.6 apertures.

Powerful AF sensors compatible up to f/8: the D4 maintains the power of the eleven central AF sensors, including one cross-type even if the combined open aperture value is f/8. A big plus for shooting sports and wildlife, this delivers a new level of detection potential when combining, for example, a 600mm f/4 AF-NIKKOR lens with a NIKKOR 2.0x teleconverter. If the combined aperture value is between f/5.6 and f/8, you even have the power of fifteen central AF sensors available, of which nine are cross type sensors.

Faster total workflow speed
The D4’s speed runs across its entire workflow.

Newly developed Kevlar/carbon fiber-composite shutter unit: the new, highly durable shutter unit offers a standard life cycle rating of 400,000 releases, with a maximum shutter speed of 1/8000 to 30s and flash synchronization at up to 1/250 sec. An intelligent self-diagnostic shutter monitor and a drive unit reduce the demand on power when the shutter is raised for extended periods during movie shooting.

Fast response: start-up is approx. 0.12 seconds , release time lag is minimised to approx. 0.042 seconds (equivalent to that of the D3S), with approx. up to 11 fps capability in FX-format and all crop modes.

Storage media: the D4 offers two card slots. One for high-speed CF (UDMA 7) cards and one for high-speed, high-capacity XQD card slot.

Connectivity: a powerful data communication and control system makes both wired and wireless LAN file transfer faster and easier than ever. Wireless LAN support is available via the compact, newly designed WT-5 Wireless Transmitter, which features HTTP and FTP connection modes and also allows for the simultaneous release of several cameras equipped with WT-5. HTTP mode has also been designed to work with iPhone screen resolutions. For the first time in a Nikon camera, a wired LAN connection is integrated into the camera body.

Always up to the job
Every millisecond can count, and the D4’s improved operability helps photographers respond quickly to changing situations.

Intuitive horizontal and vertical control: each orientation has identically laid-out controls, conveniently placed so that the camera may quickly become an extension of your hand whether you shoot in landscape or portrait.

Simplified AF and AF-area mode selection: now possible without taking your eye away from the viewfinder.

Precision 8-cm (3.2-in.), approx. 921k-dot, wide-viewing-angle LCD monitor with automatic brightness control. The monitor delivers bright, crisp image playback with a much wider colour reproduction capacity. LCD brightness is automatically adjusted according to the viewing environment and images can be magnified up to 46x during playback, which can be a big help for spot focus confirmation.

Glass prism optical viewfinder: offers approximately 100% frame coverage and 0.7x magnification (50mm f/1.4 lens at infinity, -1.0m-1). The high eyepoint design of Nikon’s viewfinders is renowned for minimizing visual fatigue when using the camera for extended periods of time.

Dual-axis electronic virtual horizon: offers accurate confirmation of level shooting by letting you check the LCD monitor, or the viewfinder, for both the camera’s position in relation to the horizontal plane and its pitch (forward or rear rotation).

Direct access to Picture Controls: via a dedicated button, rather than the menu. Picture Controls let you customize the look of your stills and videos by fine-tuning parameters such as sharpness, saturation, and hue.

Complete control over workflow
The D4 is built for speed, but not for speed alone. Readiness and versatility go hand in hand with control options that can deliver a real advantage when time is of the essence.

Time-lapse movies: the D4 extends the popular time-lapse photography function by saving images as a movie file in the camera. With playback rates from 24 to 36,000 times faster than normal.

HDR (High Dynamic Range): shoots one overexposed and one underexposed frame in a single shutter release. The range can be widened by up to 3 EV for different looks, full of saturation and tonal gradation. The smoothness of the edge where the two exposures meet can be adjusted for a more natural look.

Refined colour temperature control: enables minute control over white balance. The monitor hue of live view and the resulting image’s white balance can be adjusted so that the two are aligned. Colour temperature can be manually set in 10-Kelvin increments, or in mired units.

Four image area options: you can choose from a variety of image crop modes, all visually masked in the viewfinder. 5:4 (30.0 x 24.0 mm), 1.2x (30.0 x 19.9 mm), and DX-format (23.4 x 15.6 mm).

In-camera editing: captured images and movies can be altered and edited in camera and on the fly if required. Retouch menus include an array of useful features such as NEF (RAW) processing, resize, distortion and perspective control just to name some of them. On top of that it has the ability to designate the start and end point of movie clips all at once, in order to save them more efficiently.

Accessories
Compact WT-5 Wireless Transmitter (optional): attaches to the camera’s designated interface connector and is powered by the camera body. It features HTTP and FTP connection modes and allows for the simultaneous release of several cameras equipped with WT-5.

GP-1 GPS unit (optional): records location information such as latitude, longitude, altitude and time (UTC) as ‘geotags’ in the image data (Exif) and allows simultaneous operation together with the WT-5.

Capture NX 2 (optional)—Fast, powerful and creative image processing: to accommodate the imaging power of the D4, Capture NX 2 is faster than before and boasts full 64-bit compatibility.

Camera Control Pro 2 (optional)—Versatile remote camera controls: aside from controlling exposure mode, shutter speed, and aperture, this software now offers numerous improvements to make the D4’s live view operation exceptionally smooth. New creative controls include remote start and stop for movie shooting and the option to switch quickly between stills and movies in live view.

It always amazes me that Nikon manages to keep the price of their cameras just out of reach. The D4 will be available soon, and a used D700 is still over $2000. Either these cameras really stand the test of time, or Nikon only manufactures a few dozen FX-sensor cameras every month.

Who the target market is for these? Are there a lot of professional photographers wanting to upgrade their equipment, or is this for people who just want to look like professionals? It would be nice to own a no-compromise camera, but I don't own a studio, and this is too heavy to carry down to the park.

Now, it is probably the time to mix the D4 with Nikon 1? Then we all could enjoy a Leica size fast Nikon FX (or also DX) with superior IQ and modest weight. With shorter lens to sensor distance Nikon should produce four fast superior primes, 16 to 90 mm and a video lens 28-300mm. That could be a killer if the price tag is right (max 3000$)body. It would take customers from Leica, Sony and Canon. Nikon can sell a lot of such lenses. Ad an adapter for DSLR lenses. In some ways such a camera would be more useful than the D4, in other not. Good idea?